Alphabet Book Challenge

[CBRetriever]

gotta be last names according to the first post. Updike or Leon Uris or Sigrid Undset but all those would require a purchase. I did check all my remaining short story Collections, but there's no surname of U in them

maybe this will work:

True and Untrue and Other Norse Tales

now for the Nine

[Kaa]

For U authors: Ijeoma Umebinyuo is a Nigerian poet. Or Luis Alberto Urrea.

[Amanda]

I've started putting my TBR in a spreadsheet by letter in anticipation of maaaybe doing this, and apparently I have a ton of 'G' books. And one of them is one I know I'll be reading (the new Wayfarers book) so the rest don't even matter.

[CBRetriever]

and I have it, I opened my Delphi Complete E. Nesbit and found another story with a number

The Island of the Nine Whirlpools (it's a fairy tale)
and before I'd found Five Children and It

so I'm good to go.

Oh, do we add the books to the shelf when we join the contest or as we go?

[Anna]

CBRetriever wrote: "Oh, do we add the books to the shelf when we join the contest or as we go?"

Either way is good! That'st just for everyone to keep track via a GR challenge if they want to. If you're reading more than one story from a collection, you can edit the number of books you sign up with.

Anyone who is pretty sure of their plans can add the books to the shelf in advance (this is what I do with the TBR challenge usually), and those who want to wing it or see how things progress naturally can fill as they go. There is no wrong way!

I'm starting to get interested in looking at authors myself. Maybe I should change things up a bit, instead of just doing the same thing I've already done.

[Nicol]

CBRetriever wrote: "gotta be last names according to the first post. Updike or Leon Uris or Sigrid Undset but all those would require a purchase. I did check all my remaining short story Collections, but there's no su..."

I guess I missed that - good thing I am doing the titles not the author, lol.
For 9 if you are not reading Gideon the Ninth this month you could add it, I think I am going to do that since I can't read it this month probably, or Ninth House

[CBRetriever]

I'm a glutton for a pleasant punishment, so I'm gonna do both. I forgot to search on 9th, 8th, etc so thanks for reminding me

[Leticia]

Anna wrote: "Leticia wrote: "No, I did an year long challenge."

Oh OK, I was thinking you're a brave one to jump into this challenge after suffering through a month of AtoZ :D"

I'm not as accomplished as Rachel :D

[Leticia]

Diane wrote: "Leticia, I did the same for most letters. Slim pickings for SFF books for some letters though. I’m hoping that my moods don’t get in the way too much!"

True, I did get some YA or classics for the letters I could not find anything else though.

[Anna]

I've also read some classics to cover harder letters in the past. I think I've read something that starts with "Jane" every time :D At least Jane Eyre and Jane, Unlimited. And Jamaica Inn is still on my TBR, waiting to be used for this purpose. I did consider saving Jagannath for this, but I finished it to get this year's short fic challenge done.

edit: Oh, the third J was Jackalope Wives and Other Stories! An excellent option for anyone who needs a J.

[DivaDiane]

I found this book on my Kindle (it was probably free at some point) by Eduardo Strauch Urioste: Out of the Silence: After the Crash. The cover only has Eduardo Strauch as his name, but GR and Amazon also call him Eduardo Strauch Urioste, so I'm going with that. Otherwise, I too only have Uris and Updike on my TBR.

It's not SF, but rather, a memoir by a survivor of that fateful airplane crash in the Andes.

[Leticia]

Anna wrote: "I've also read some classics to cover harder letters in the past. I think I've read something that starts with "Jane" every time :D At least Jane Eyre and [book:Jane, Unlimited|3299156..."

I got Jade City and Jane Unlimited for J. I'm still looking for K.

[Leticia]

Diane wrote: "I found this book on my Kindle (it was probably free at some point) by Eduardo Strauch Urioste: Out of the Silence: After the Crash. The cover only has Eduardo Stra..."

For U I got The Unicorn from the Stars and Other Plays It's a free classic on Amazon.

[Anna]

K is harder in English, but The Killing Moon is a good one for those who've yet to read it, as is Kindred. Also anything that starts with King(dom), Kill(ing/er) or Keep(er). Kabu Kabu is a nice collection. I'll either read something in Finnish for K (plenty of options) or Klara and the Sun.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, How Long 'til Black Future Month?, anything that starts with House/Home/Heart, The Hollow Places, His Majesty's Dragon, The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, The Haunting of Tram Car 015, (and other Hauntings) and Harriet the Invincible!

[Joon]

I am literally reading Gideon the Ninth and I didn't think of that for Nine. My mind is going.

[CBRetriever]

Joon wrote: "I am literally reading Gideon the Ninth and I didn't think of that for Nine. My mind is going."

mine too and fortunately I haven't started it yet, so I'll use that

[DivaDiane]

I'm having way too much fun trying to put together a reading list for this, and the series completion challenge that work together. Here is my list of books - one for titles, which is of course subject to change, despite having multiple choices; and one for authors. I may even put together one for poetry titles. (I might have a serious problem).

Spoiler tags for length only:

(view spoiler)[
Book Title:
Z – The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence, Stan Lee (Kindle)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, (HC)

✅Y – You Can't Kiss A Bubble, Karen Wyle (ARC)

✅X – The Poet X, Elizabeth Acevedo
X-Men: Wakanda Forever #1, Okorafor (Kindle) (Author O)

✅W – When Fox is a Thousand, Larissa Lai

V – Voices, UKL (PB) Powers Series #3
The Very Best of Charles de Lint92936] (short stories)
Vectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet (PB) Poetry (Author J)

✅U – Under the Whispering Door, Klune (ARC)

✅T – Trash Mountain, Jane Yolen

✅S – Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher, Walter Moers (in German - audio)

✅R - Rendezvous with Rama (Kindle)

✅Q –The Quantum Magician, Derke Künsken

✅P – Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir (audio)

✅O – The Obelisk Gate (Not owned) series #2

✅N – The Never Ending Sacrifice, Una MacCormack

✅M – Momo (author E)

✅L –Lock In (audio) Series #1

K – King Dog, UKL (Kindle) (short)

J – The Judas Rose, Elgin (PB) Native Tongue series #2 (Author E)
Just North of Nowhere, Santoro (PB) Short story or collection

✅I – In the Vanishers’ Palace

✅H – The House in the Cerulean Sea

G – The Green Dwarf: A Tale of the Perfect Tense (PB)
The Golden Torc (Kindle) series #2

✅F – Fate of the Fallen, Key Kade

✅E – Everfair

✅D - The Dancers of Arun
✅C - Children of Time

✅B – The Best of All Possible Worlds

✅A – Artificial Condition (Kindle) Series #2 (Author W)

Author:

Z – Zafón, Carlos Ruiz – The Angel's Game (series #2)
✅Y – Yolen, Jane – Trash Mountain
X – Xia Jia – in Upgraded (short story)
✅W – Wells, Martha – Upgraded (series #2)
V – Vonnegut, Kurt – Slaughterhouse-Five
✅U – Urioste, Eduardo Strauch – Out of the Silence: After the Crash (memoir)
T – Tiptree, James – Houston, Houston, Do You Read? (short)
✅S – Scalzi, John - Lock In
✅R - Reyes, Delores - Eartheater
Q^ – Quinn, AT – Shadows of the Stars: The Children of the Arks
✅P – Pinsker, Sarah – We Are Satellites
✅O– Okorafor, Nnedi – Binti
✅N – Nohelty, Russel – Katrina Hates The Dead (series #1)
M^ – Montefiore, Santa – Secrets of the Lighthouse
✅L – Lai, Larissa - When Fox is a Thousand
✅K – Kade, Kel - Fate of the Fallen
J – Jacob, Charlee – Vectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet (poetry)
✅I – Itzkoff, Dave – Robin (biography)
✅H – Harrow, Alix, E. – A Spindle Splintered
G – Gloss, Molly – The Dazzle of Day
F – Foster, Eugie – Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo (short story)
✅E - Ende, Michael - Momo
✅D – de Bodard, Aliette - In the Vanishers’ Palace
✅C – Chambers, Becky – A Psalm for the Wild-Built
B – Baum, Frank L. - The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
✅A – Acevedo, Elizabeth - The Poet X
^Not in Title Challenge

I might even do one for poetry. I (certainly) have (nearly) enough. And here it is:

A - The Alchemy of Stars II, Anthology
B - Blood Wallah and Other Poems000792], Robert BorskiVectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet
C - Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes, Linda D Addison
D - The Desert, Charlee Jacob
- Dreams and Nightmares magazine
E - Every Girl Becomes the Wolf, Wiseman and Blythe
F - The Futurist's Mistress, Lorraine Schein
G - The Gloomy Seahorse, Rhys Hughes
H - A History of the Cetacean American Diaspora, Jenna Le
I - If the Hero of Time Was Black, Ashley Harris
J - ? Jacob, Charlee – The Desert
K - Khas Pidgin: A Nepali-English Poetry Collection, Salik Shah
J - Kitsune,Kitsune, Jane McKie
L - Lilith's Demons, Julie R. Enzer
- The Last Robot, Jane Yolen
M - Mistaking the Nature of the Posthuman, Steve Sneyd
- Mithila Review Issue 9 (magazine)
N - New Yesterdays, New Tomorrows Brian U. Garrison
O - Origami Lilies: A Collection of Science Fiction Tanka, Joshua Gage
P - Petit Mal, John W. Sexton
Q - ?
R - Reclaim: An Anthology of Women's Poetry
-The Riders of remembrance Antonio Mora Velez
✅S -Shelter in Place Katherine Kyle
T - Time Grows Thin, Lilith Lorraine
- Tales from the Holograph Woods Eileen Karnaghan
- Twelve: Poems Inspired by the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale, Andrea Blythe
U - Unmanned, Jessica RaeBergamino
- Unmute: Young Voices from Lockdown: Edited by Kate Clanchy
V - Vectors: A Week in the Death of a Planet, Charlee Jacob
- Venus Intervention Corinne DeWinter
W - Witch Wife, Kiki Petrosino
Y - The Year of the Witch, Shannon Connor Winward
Z - ?

(hide spoiler)]

[Anna]

Ooh, backwards, you rebel! 😄

[Joon]

CBRetriever wrote: "Joon wrote: "I am literally reading Gideon the Ninth and I didn't think of that for Nine. My mind is going."

mine too and fortunately I haven't started it yet, so I'll use that"

But it means the sequel, Harrow the Ninth, works too, so I can use that, if I don't end up hating Gideon.

[Joon]

Got options now for everything except the number eight. And my "one" is sketchy at best (book is called "Anyone" by Charles Soule and I don't even know if I want to read it this year.)

[CBRetriever]

my Eight = Eight Cousins in Delphi Complete Works of Louisa May Alcott
and 1-3 are from

One Land, One Duke = (Night-Threads Book 3)
The Two In Hiding = (Night-Threads Book 2)
The Calling of the Three = (Night-Threads Book 1)

which trends right into my Series challenges as it's a 6 book series and will give me the Longer Series Square

[Eva]

Don't forget all those "Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year ..." short fiction anthologies: you can easily cover all numbers that way AND discover which of the current top writers in the field match your taste without having to commit to a whole novel by them. :-)

[Kaa]

I wasn't really planning on doing the numbers challenge, but I started looking, and now the only one that I haven't figured out is also eight.

ETA: Fox 8!

[Eva]

Some ideas for 8:

[CBRetriever]

I'm too harsh on myself for most of that list in that I won't use Book 8 of or 8 in 2018. I would use Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich if I hadn't already read it

[Kaa]

CBRetriever wrote: "I'm too harsh on myself for most of that list in that I won't use Book 8 of or 8 in 2018. I would use Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich if I hadn't already read it"

Yeah, that's my goal too. I don't even really want to use a number in a longer number, eg 10 Minutes 38 Seconds for 8, although I will if I have to. Fox 8 looks interesting and short, so that's almost certainly what I will go with.

[Joon]

Yeah I'm also trying to avoid picking a book that merely has the number 8 in the title, especially if it's in a year.

There's 84K by Claire North, but I've tried and failed to get into a couple of her more popular books, and this is not one of her more popular books so I certainly don't wanna bend my own rule just to attempt it.

There's From a Buick 8 by Stephen King, but it's apparently more or less a Dark Tower book and I haven't read that series (though the first two books ARE on my alphabet list.) More accurately, I've tried and failed to read that series. Many times.

I did find a book called The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket). I've never read one of his non-Snicket books so that might be worth a look, assuming I don't somehow tear down the entire Dark Tower series which I for sure won't.


Overall my list does still need a little more work. There's a few numbers/letters where I did find a book or two, but they aren't necessarily ones I REALLY want to read.

[CBRetriever]

If you have anthologies on your shelves, look in them. That's where I found several that looked interesting

1. One Land, One Duke = (Night-Threads Book 3)
2. The Two In Hiding = (Night-Threads Book 2)
3. The Calling of the Three = (Night-Threads Book 1)
4. The Four-Color Ape in The Apes of Wrath
5. Taking the Fifth = J. P. Beaumont Novel Book 4
6. Six from Atlantis in The Sword & Sorcery Anthology
7. Seven in Unfettered III: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy
8. Eight Cousins in Complete Louisa May Alcott Works - 35 Complete Works (Little Women Trilogy, An Old Fashioned Girl, Work, Eight Cousins, Behind a Mask, Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag, Hospital Sketches, Jack & Jill)
9. Gideon the Ninth
10. Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler in The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera: First Annual Edition

one mystery for #5
one classic for #8

but the rest are all SF&F

[CBRetriever]

for Updike to fill the U for author slot, here's a short story Collection

Licks of Love: Short Stories and a Sequel, "Rabbit Remembered"

which is currently $1.99 on amazon.com (this is the price to me as a US resident - your price might be higher or lower)

[Midiain]

Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Uncanny, Lightspeed, and Tor post some short fiction on their web sites so you might want to check online before you buy an anthology or back copy of a magazine. Once in a while an author will post a story on their blog page too.

[Nicol]

I think I finally have my tentative list, it took a awhile to find one for number zero for me - I have to combine this with the series challenge and the read all the books, I can be a mood reader so this list could radically change, lol - I'm going for Medium Mode

A. Among Others
B. Brief Cases
C. Competence
D. Dress Codes for Small Towns
E. The Eye of the World
F. Felix Ever After
G. Guards! Guards!
H. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
I. Into the Drowning Deep
J. Juice Like Wounds
K. Know My Name
L. The Lies of Locke Lamora
M. The Mere Wife
N. Not Your Backup
O. Oryx and Crake
P. Peace Talks
Q. The Queen of Nothing
R. Remnant Population
S. Side Jobs
T. Too Like the Lightning
U. The Unbound
V. Vengeful
W. The Wolf in the Whale
X. The X-Files: Origins
Y. You Should See Me in a Crown
Z. Zoo City
0. Zero Tolerance
1. First Test
2. Twice Magic
3. Knock Three Times
4. Four Souls
5. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper
6. Hot Six
7. Seven Up
8. Hard Eight
9. Gideon the Ninth

[CBRetriever]

aggghhh!

Zero? Now I gotta go looking again (I read it as 1-10 for some reason)

[Nicol]

Patient Zero and Zeroes are good options but I already read them so I had to find another -

[Kaa]

Zero Sum Game by SL Huang

[CBRetriever]

The Zero Stone by Andre Norton but I've already read it

However I found one: Zero Gee in The Best of Bova: Volume 1 by Ben Bova

[Anna]

Joon wrote: "And my "one" is sketchy at best (book is called "Anyone" by Charles Soule and I don't even know if I want to read it this year.)"

I don't think it's sketchy at all, it totally counts!

CBRetriever wrote: "I'm too harsh on myself for most of that list in that I won't use Book 8 of or 8 in 2018."

Yeah, I'm not telling anyone they're absolutely forbidden, but I did not mean book #8 in a series, or vol. 8, the number has to be a part of the title.

Caillen wrote: "Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Uncanny, Lightspeed, and Tor post some short fiction on their web sites so you might want to check online"

I read a bunch of free Tor.com stories one year to cover my missing letters! It was convenient, because I could arrange them alphabetically.

[Anna]

Kaa wrote: "Fox 8!"

I might have to read that just for this cover!

[Joon]

My "zero" book (as of now) is Chuck Wendig's Zeroes, but William Gibson has Count Zero as well so we'll see.

[Stephanie]

This will be fun! I think I'm going to try playing on medium. I might want to do numbers, too?

I plan to edit this post with my potential reads/progress!

Planned reads here:

A
Amatka
All Systems Red

B
The Best of All Possible Worlds
Bellewether
Brown Girl in the Ring

C
Caster
Children of Time
China Mountain Zhang
Cinnamon and Gunpowder

D
The Days of the Deer
Dragon Pearl
The Dragon Republic (Series #2)

E
Everfair

F
Finders
The Fire's Stone
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
Flame in the Mist
Flesh and Spirit
Foundation

G
God Is Red: A Native View of Religion
Gods of Jade and Shadow
Gunpowder Alchemy

H
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse

I
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
Inda (have read before)
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

J
Jade City
The Just City

K
The Killing Moon
Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was

L
Labyrinth Lost
Lion of Senet
Lobizona

M
Master of Poisons
The Mere Wife
The Midnight Bargain
Miss Meteor
Mordant's Need

N
Nocturna
Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong

O
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Obelisk Gate
Orleans

P
A Passage of Stars
The People in the Trees
A Planet for Rent
Point of Hopes
The Poppy War

Q
The Queen of Nothing
The Quantum Thief

R
The Raven and the Reindeer
Record of a Spaceborn Few
Red Moon and Black Mountain

S
Salt to the Sea
The Stone Sky
The Starless Sea
A Sword Named Truth
Skyward
Spin the Dawn
Spinning Silver
Spirits Abroad

T
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
The Tiger's Daughter

U
The Ugly Stepsister
Unconquerable Sun
The Unspoken Name

V
A Very Large Expanse of Sea

W
The Water Dancer
The Way of Thorn and Thunder
We Set the Dark on Fire
When Fox is a Thousand
Wicked Fox
The Word for World is Forest
Wizard of the Crow

X

Y
The Year 200

Z
Zero Sum Game

Numbers (may change):
0 - Zero Sum Game
1 - The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
2 - Two Suns in the Sky
3 - Three Shadows / Power of Three
4 - Sing the Four Quarters
5 - Court of Fives
6 - Six Moon Dance
7 - On the Night of the Seventh Moon
8 -
9 - The Nine Billion Names of God
10 - Ten Little Indians
11 - Station Eleven

I gave myself lots of choices because I'm such a mood reader~

[Anna]

You can add more later, if you feel like it! :)

[Midiain]

I'm trying to do short stories by author (medium light with an emphasis on scifi authors I've never read before). I could use some suggestions for scifi or fantasy authors with a surname starting with I and Q.

[Anna]

For I: Anonymous by Uzodinma Iweala, it's free on Audible US (for members)

[Midiain]

Anna wrote: "For I: Anonymous by Uzodinma Iweala, it's free on Audible US (for members)"

That looks really good. Thank you.

[Kaa]

I: Walidah Imarisha and José Pablo Iriarte both have several really good short stories, some of which I think are available free online.

Q: I had to use Google for this one, but it looks like Roberto Quaglia has some short stories in English.

[Midiain]

Wow, Quaglia has some seriously NSFW titles. lol There are a couple that might work though.

Thank you for the suggestions, I'll check those out. Walidah Imarisha has a story in an anthology that I already have so that's convenient.

[CBRetriever]

Medium mode Alphabet Titles

Apocalypse Nyx by Kameron Hurley
Bedlam's Edge by Mercedes Lackey
The Chrome Borne by Mercedes Lackey
The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett
Echo One: Stories from the Secret World Chronicles by Mercedes Lackey
The Fire's Stone by Tanya Huff
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The Harrowing of Gwynedd by Katherine Kurtz
Ivory Apples by Lisa Goldstein
The Jargoon Pard by Andre Norton
Kings of the North by Elizabeth Moon
The Lesser Kindred by Elizabeth Kerner
Music to My Sorrow by Mercedes Lackey
Nightwings by Robert Silverberg
The Otherworld by Mercedes Lackey
A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne
Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
Redeeming the Lost by Elizabeth Kerner
Song in the Silence Elizabeth Kerner
Trader by Charles de Lint
Unholy Land by Lavie Tidhar
Vacuum Flowers by Michael Swanwick
The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett
Xingu by Edith Wharton <------------ Fiction
The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera: First Annual Edition = Short stories by various authors
Zarsthor's Bane by Andre Norton

Note: a lot of these are the titles by the authors on my Alpha list and a lot will be used to fill my Series challenge

[Anna]

CBR, you're so organized! I still haven't started planning my list, I really should get on that!

[CBRetriever]

Alphabet Author Challenge

Abercrombie, Joe
Brett, Peter V.
Cornwell, Patricia
Dellamonica, A.M.
Emerson, Ru
Feist, Raymond E.
Goldstein, Lisa
Hamilton, Peter F.
Ishiguro, Kazuo
Jones, J.V.
Kerner, Elizabeth
Lackey, Mercedes
Moon, Elizabeth
Norton, Andre
Onyebuchi, Tochi
Potzsch, Oliver
Quiller-Couch & Perrault
Ryan, Anthony
Silverberg, Robert
Tidhar, Lavie
Updike, John <---- Fiction
Venables, Toby
Wexler, Django
Xia Jia - short story in Best Science Fiction of the Year Volume 2
Yolen, Jane
Zahn, Timothy

I'll fill in the books and links as I complete them

[DivaDiane]

I added a Title challenge for Poetry. Still have to find J,Q and Z titles though. You can view all my crazy lists in post number 67

[Anna]

I love that you're doing poetry! I can't help with that really, but Uncanny has some:
https://uncannymagazine.com/type/poetry/

J:
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/j...

Q:
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/q...
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/q...